Monthly Archives: October 2009

A derivation then validation study on adults with blunt torso trauma found the absence of the following factors to be associated with a very low risk of significant (intervention-requiring) abdominal pathology and such patients were unlikely to benefit from abdominal CT scanning:

A joint policy statement from the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics lists guidelines and resources that should be in place for emergency departments to serve paediatric patients. Well worth a look through while asking yourself whether your ED ticks all the boxes.

In a manikin study of CPR, there was a decrease in mean depth of chest compressions when the height of the bed was over 20cm above the knee height of the nurse doing the compressions.

The study has several limitations, but serves as a helpful reminder that adjusting the height of the bed to suit the rescuer is an option not to be forgotten. At least for those areas where manual CPR is still performed.

The Canadian C-Spine rule – a decision instrument designed to clinically rule out important cervical spine injuries in alert patients – was successfully and safely applied by Canadian paramedics in a study of 1949 patients. Any misinterpretation erred on the side of safety.
This important work could ultimately result in less stress, discomfort, and wasting of ambulance resources and time for this large subgroup of pre-hospital patients.

After intubation it is critical to securely fasten the tracheal tube so it does not dislodge during transfer. Dedicated devices are available for this although mostly cloth tape is used.

Different knots have been compared although not found be significantly different in terms of security1. One favoured knot, which is easy to learn and to teach, is the lark’s head (also called cow’s hitch)2.

The tape is folded in half so there is a loop at one end and two free ends at the other. The loop is wrapped around the tube and the two free ends are fed through the loop, and then taped around the patient’s head. It has been suggested that this results in the tape gripping the tube over the widest possible area, thereby reducing the potential for slippage and displacement.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for severe respiratory failure features in two important papers recently.

The first, the CESAR trial, is an RCT showing a improvement in six-month disability-free survival in patients referred to an ECMO centre. The complexity of the study and the potential confounding factors led an editorialist to say: ‘This study will likely provide ammunition for both those in favour and those against the use of ECMO in the adult population‘.

Perhaps the Australasians have their own ammunition. In a paper describing the use of ECMO for patients with H1N1, they treated 68 patients with ECMO in three months, the same number of patients that actually received ECMO in the five year CESAR study!

Further information on the impact of H1N1 on Australasian critical care services, and the 722 patients admitted to ICU with the disease, is published in the New England Journal:Critical Care Services and 2009 H1N1 Influenza in Australia and New ZealandN Engl J Med. 2009 Oct 8. [Epub ahead of print]

A derivation then validation study was done on over 40000 children with head injuries to identify factors associated with clinically important brain injury. Prediction rules based on history and examination findings were developed for children younger than two years and for children two years and older. Both rules had high negative predictive values and may be useful tools in supporting the decision not perform a head CT.

Identification of children at very low risk of clinically-important brain injuries after head trauma: a prospective cohort study

Spanish investigators compared NIV for 24 hours with conventional oxygen therapy in patients with chronic respiratory disorders who were extubated after a successful spontaneous breathing trial. The NIV group had signficantly lower rates of post-extubation respiratory failure.